LeBron James is the biggest free agent on the market this NBA offseason. / Bob Donnan, USA TODAY Sports

by Sam Amick, USA TODAY Sports

by Sam Amick, USA TODAY Sports

Two days into free agency - nearly 66 hours, to be exact - and the agent for LeBron James, the man who had been charged by his high-profile client to handle all free agency negotiations with prospective teams, Klutch Sports' Rich Paul, had been mysteriously quiet.

Until now.

The noise surrounding the game's greatest player grew with all the speed of one of his vintage fast breaks on Thursday, when it was revealed that teams hoping to land the biggest fish in the free agent market spent recent days meeting with Cleveland-based Paul in his city to make their respective pitches.

Two people with knowledge of the situation said the Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers and Dallas Mavericks were among those teams. ESPN.com, which first reported the revelation, indicated that the Houston Rockets were also among the group. The Los Angeles Lakers scrambled to join the Lure LeBron party on Wednesday, when general manager Mitch Kupchak and Lakers chief marketing officer Tim Harris flew to Cleveland and met with Paul on Thursday, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed. The people spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the process.

The coming days will determine if this story is about to swing, if all those signs that James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh were going to all re-sign in Miami are no more. But this much is clear: The longer Heat President Pat Riley continues to shoot free agency air-balls in his latest attempt to revamp the roster, the greater the odds that James might head for the door.

The Heat were hoping to land Kyle Lowry, but he has already agreed to stay with the Toronto Raptors. Another reported target, center Marcin Gortat, has agreed to stay with the Washington Wizards. The long-shot target who could likely get this whole Heat deal done, Carmelo Anthony, was finishing his five-team recruiting tour in Los Angeles on Thursday and the Heat were not known to be among that group.

Someone, anyone? This Heat roster - which includes only Norris Cole at the moment - must improve quickly before the starry-eyed suitors who are coming so hard for James get a chance to speak to the man himself. As USA TODAY Sports first reported June 29, James' preferred plan included Paul doing the talk in the initial stages before circling back with James to decide what would come next.

That moment appears to be drawing closer, especially considering James is returning from an island vacation with his family soon and all this career-altering business will be a priority to discuss. Could James pull off the surprise and be intrigued by Phoenix? The Suns had extra face time recently with Paul because his other top client, point guard Eric Bledsoe, is a restricted free agent who could be part of their Suns super team.

Might he truly think about heading back to his home state again, forgetting all those memories about his unceremonious exit from Cleveland in the summer of 2010? Will he join Dwight Howard and James Harden in Houston, or the Dirk Nowitzki-Monta Ellis-Tyson Chandler group in Dallas? The Rockets, it should be noted, are known to be laser-focused on the prospect of landing fellow free agent Carmelo Anthony at the moment. A person with knowledge of Houston's thinking expressed very little confidence that the Rockets were legitimately being considered. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the situation.

Still, It all seemed a little more possible on Thursday night. And rest assured, this noise won't be going away anytime soon.